Postgame Breakdown: Bourque's breakthrough all B's need

Teammates surround Chris Bourque (Boxford, Mass.)
after the winger buried his first goal as a Bruin. (Getty
Images)

Final: Boston 1, Toronto 0

Recap: Well, this’ll be the easiest recap
of the 2013 season. Lane MacDermid (Hartford, Conn.) and Mark
Fraser got into a spirited fight (their first of two bouts in this
one) at the 2:42 mark, with each nailing a number of right
hooks.

At 8:54 of the first period, Chris Bourque drove to the net and
was the recipient of a perfect, backhanded saucer pass by Chris
Kelly. Bourque buried his first goal as a Bruin, giving Boston a
lead they’d never relinquish.

It was also a lead they’d never build upon. Toronto put
just seven pucks on net in each of the three periods, all of which
were gobbled up by Tuukka Rask, who notched his first shutout of
the season in the 1-0 win.

Records: Boston 6-1-1, 13 points; Toronto
4-4-0, eight points

Key Play of the Game: Bourque’s goal was
damn near the only noteworthy/consequential play in the entire
contest. Scroll back up if you’re forgetful or something and
want to read about it again.

Connolly’s Commendations: We’ll do
the gentlemanly thing and first commend James Reimer for his
impressive performance. He stopped 33-of-34 a year after owning a
6.60 goals-against average in two starts against Boston.

Great job by Johnny Boychuk in 22:28 of action. No. 55 had a
game-high five blocked shots, two of which came in a nine-second
span midway through the second period, thwarting Phil Kessel and
Dion Phaneuf.

Connolly’s Critiques: Phenomenal effort
by the referees to take center stage this evening. Both the Leafs
and Bruins had goals disallowed (the latter of which was curiously
reviewed) due to goalie interference. In the third, Chris Lee and
Ian Walsh handed out five minor penalties, including a Downy soft
slashing call on Tyler Seguin.

Notes: How’s this for a funny
coincidence: Benoit Pouliot started out the 2011-12 season as the
B’s new third line left winger and went pointless in his
first eight games. He was a healthy scratch three times then scored
his first goal of the season when inserted back into the lineup.
Bourque, who’s filling the void left by Pouliot on the third
line, went six games without a point, was scratched once and scored
in his first game back in action. Bourque took Brad
Marchand’s place on the second line after No. 63 left the
game due to what looked like a shoulder injury.

Final Thoughts: Tonight’s tilt in Toronto
had that “Wait, it’s the third period already?”
feel to it. The Leafs spent a pretty good chunk of time in the
offensive zone, but Boston blocked 22 shots (compared to 12 for the
Leafs). The B’s lead just never felt in jeopardy, which
certainly isn’t a bad thing after they got lit up by Buffalo
on Thursday.

Next: The Bruins now get a well-deserved
three-day breather. They’ll head to Montreal to take on the
Canadiens Wednesday night.